How EU reacted to "Mindich case" and what consequences it may have for Ukraine
After the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) revealed details of a large-scale corruption scheme centred on Energoatom, and spilling over into other parts of the energy sector and even defence, Ukraine’s European partners were left to determine how to respond.
After several days of uncertainty, Europe’s position began to take shape: exposing embezzlement schemes at the highest levels of government is seen as a positive sign because it demonstrates the effectiveness of Ukraine’s anti-corruption system. In addition, EU countries officially assure that European Union support for Ukraine, especially financial support, will not be harmed or reduced.
But behind closed doors, many European bureaucrats and diplomats admit that the scandal has negative consequences as well.
Read more about the possible impact of this major corruption scandal on European support for Ukraine in the article by Sergiy Sydorenko and Tetiana Vysotska of European Pravda: A mix of joy and sorrow: will EU punish Ukraine’s government after the corruption scandal?
Perhaps the most candid public reaction came from Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters in Brussels.
Speaking on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers’ summit in Canada, Kallas called the corruption scandal "deeply regrettable," stressing that "there is no place for corruption, especially not now."
"It is literally the people's money that should go to the front lines," the EU’s top diplomat said with frustration.
Ukraine’s friends in the EU were truly alarmed by the potential threat to aid, especially as this week European capitals and G7 representatives were deciding on financial aid for Kyiv.
A G7 meeting was held in Canada, and EU finance ministers met in Brussels to discuss a "reparations loan" backed by frozen Russian assets. At the same time, a Ukraine Recovery Conference took place in Warsaw. Alongside these were less public but highly active consultations among EU states on saving Ukraine’s energy sector and purchasing gas to help Ukraine get through the winter, given the heavy damage to domestic production in recent months.
European politicians reached an almost complete consensus (excluding Ukraine’s consistent opponents like Viktor Orbán) that support must continue.
Key capitals issued statements one after another, confirming that financial assistance to Ukraine would not suffer.
And once the Ukrainian government demonstrated support for the NABU and SAPO investigation through concrete actions, Ukraine’s friends gained grounds to frame the corruption exposure as a positive rather than a negative development.
After all, the fact that corruption existed, and still does, in Ukraine is no surprise to anyone. The real story is that Ukraine is fighting it.
Notably, those positive statements appeared only in the second half of the week – after the dismissal and removal of implicated officials began.
But alongside the positive signals, Brussels also issued a warning: "This investigation shows that anti-corruption bodies are in place and functioning in Ukraine. The Commission will continue to monitor the situation," Guillaume Mercier, European Commission spokesperson, emphasised.
A separate question is how the "Mindich scheme" scandal affects Ukraine’s EU accession prospects.
Several sources told European Pravda that the future course of events will be crucial.
For now, the "Midas case" has created not only challenges but, surprisingly, additional motivation to open EU accession negotiations.
This is because the first negotiation chapter opened after the talks begin would be the Fundamentals cluster, which includes anti-corruption requirements.
"Opening this cluster would give us leverage to monitor Ukraine’s progress," one Brussels source told Politico.